e30 320i upgrades

[l0w320 0]

hey jus bought myself a 89 e30 320i 4 door.

wat would b a good place to start for performance gains??

[Forrest 35]

hey jus bought myself a 89 e30 320i 4 door.

wat would b a good place to start for performance gains??

Exhaust and Air Filter/Intake

Wouldnt go any further than that on a 2L, save the rest for upgrading to a 2.5 etc

Also bushes, good shocks and some decent pads will make a massive difference

[edhardley 0]

Hey, read the thread a few down in this section 'e36 sluggish' or something. Pretty much same deal as you. I wouldn't bother about suspension or brakes to much unless there worn. 2 reasons: bmw oem brake discs on e36 are very good(more than suitable for 2.0l), and same for suspension- not going faster enough to spend over $1000 for something better than whats already in there. Would definately go for CIA, do it PROPERLY, or you may even loose power... once again theres info on this in that thread ($300 should be sufficient for good job). In terms of exhaust, on almost any e36 your looking at minimal power gains (2-3hp), unless you spend over $2000 for a miltech, (the standard exhausts are fairly good), the thing you can do, which is free and will free up more power(still not much) than a new exhaust, is remove the cat (you'd probaly do this anyway with a new exhaust). I.M.O theres not very much you can do at all to make a 320i faster without spending the amount of money you could have used to buy the 2.5 or even m3 these days. So agree with what the other guy said, save up for the 2.5. But yea, a good air intake, and cat delete will give you something of worth, for little money and a nice sound at high reevs. good luck.

[edhardley 0]

Hey, read the thread a few down in this section 'e36 sluggish' or something. Pretty much same deal as you. I wouldn't bother about suspension or brakes to much unless there worn. 2 reasons: bmw oem brake discs on e36 are very good(more than suitable for 2.0l), and same for suspension- not going faster enough to spend over $1000 for something better than whats already in there. Would definately go for CIA, do it PROPERLY, or you may even loose power... once again theres info on this in that thread ($300 should be sufficient for good job). In terms of exhaust, on almost any e36 your looking at minimal power gains (2-3hp), unless you spend over $2000 for a miltech, (the standard exhausts are fairly good), the thing you can do, which is free and will free up more power(still not much) than a new exhaust, is remove the cat (you'd probaly do this anyway with a new exhaust). I.M.O theres not very much you can do at all to make a 320i faster without spending the amount of money you could have used to buy the 2.5 or even m3 these days. So agree with what the other guy said, save up for the 2.5. But yea, a good air intake, and cat delete will give you something of worth, for little money and a nice sound at high reevs. good luck.

(was thinking yours was e36 ... most of the above still apllies, except obviously an e30 m3 was out of the question haha, and breaks could be worth looking at. my bad.)

[|ncary 0]

The best upgrpde you can get for a e30 is new bushings all round and GOOD tires. I can vouch for Michelins. If you aren't that rich, Direzzas. The E30's strenght is handling, not power.

That's why mine is getting a td05 tubro attatched..

[edhardley 0]

The best upgrpde you can get for a e30 is new bushings all round and GOOD tires. I can vouch for Michelins. If you aren't that rich, Direzzas. The E30's strenght is handling, not power.

That's why mine is getting a td05 tubro attatched..

Can vouch for those dirrezzas, had them on my old 3-series and they stick like glue (almost ), for the price bloody good.

[JiB 0]

Do bushes, and spend money on maintenance. There is a lot of power that can be lost if not maintained properly!

And perhaps good shock/spring package with spare change

That's what I'd do anyway. My car reflects my belief that the e30's strength is handling not power. My car has a standard motor, right down to the BMW paper air filter! Handling modifications are much better value for money than power modifications imho.

If you're after more hp per $ I would suggest going for a Japanese car

[|ncary 0]

Was going to say the same thing about getting a turbo jappa ha, but sounded cock like.

Can vouch for those dirrezzas, had them on my old 3-series and they stick like glue (almost ), for the price bloody good.

Except when it rains and the grip becomes budget tyre like.. I paid an extra 50 per tyre for my Pilot Precedas (Hook ups, Advantage Tires in chch here, tell Aaron I sent you if anyone wants Michelins for cheaper ) and the grip wet and dry is nearly equal. Not to mention the grip under braking and stability of these things.. Wow.

Anyway, topic back on, go!

[Nobimmer 694]

Do a 2.5 swap. Best bang for buck.

[bravo 35]

^^^ agree with everything said above - get maintenance sorted, get suspension sorted (springs, shocks, bushes), convert to manual if you have an auto - best mod ever! - then if you still have $$ later on upgrade to 2.5l.

You will spend more on the 2.0 getting 2,5l power out of it than swapping the entire motor. The great thing about 6 cyle e30's is that everything is plug and play between the 2.0 and 2.5l. Just swap them out and drive away.

[Driftit 2078]

There is a bit of power to be found from the M20B20. But not alot. In the race series people are getting up to 130rwhp. Which is a good amount of power. But as stated. A M20B25 is not that expensive, an easy swap and around 138rwhp with little to no mods. All my 325 has is an budget exhaust, 300,000kms on the clock and it is 140rwhp. Dynoed.

[_BRS_ 209]

sorry to kinda hyjack but realistically how much would you need to do a complete m20b25 conversion, i know im definitely going to du a conversion of some sort one day but as its plug and play as you state this might be the better option at this stage.

[Nobimmer 694]

Find a wrecked one and steal all the good bits from it. Mine cost under 600, but that was with new exhaust gaskets,some odd bolts, oil,plugs etc.

[l0w320 0]

yeh i was thinkin of duing tht my mates dad (ray of hellbm) rekoned a 2.5 conversion would b good cuz i jus gota new 2.5l 3.64ratio diff put in.

i was also thinkin it would b cool to make an insane turbo m20b20?

any opinions/ideas on this?

[Guest FrantiC]

Waste of time turboing the m20b20. It is the worst of the m20's and reaches it's max HP at the highest (5800rpm). So to get any power out of it you kinda need to rev the heck out of it. For a few hundred you could buy a 2.5 conversion, or even turbo that.

IMO Buy a m20b25 and turbo that. Or even better do the m20b27 hybrid with the 2.5L head / intake / ECU etc. Good low end torque of the long stroke ETA with high end power. I just recently put in my 2.7l into my 89 320i. Consists of 88 ETA bottem end (88 525e), 885 (325i) head, 325i intake manifold, thottlebody, AFM, ECU and motronic 1.3 wiring loom. 95 e36 325i injectors. Then just slap on the e30 oil pan, put it all together and it's the same plug and play. Turbo the 2.7 and that would be pretty mad.

Edited February 2, 2009 by FrantiC